Martial Arts Master

The sky became dim and the summer night fell late. A gentle breeze blew from the Back Water Lake, scattering the heaviness and dampness.

“Sigh… My relatives… They just showed up to see you without informing us in advance,” said Lou Cheng with a tinge of emotion, his hand holding Yan Zheke’s. The worst was Lou Yuanwei, whose excuse sucked. At least he didn’t stay for lunch in spite of Lou Cheng’s mother’s warm invitation.

However, these uninvited guests shortened the distance between Yan Zheke and Lou Cheng’s parents. When there were only the four of them, she felt very relaxed and expressed her love for several dishes, which really pleased his mother.

After the feast, Lou Cheng led Yan Zheke to his bedroom and showed her his classmates’ messages, posters of the capable, and old detective novels. The afternoon went by fast and pleasantly. They didn’t make out at all as the parents knocked often to bring in fruits and snacks.

Lou Zhisheng brought his parents over for dinner. With no granddaughter-in-law in the family, the old couple loved Yan Zheke inside out.

As they strolled on, Yan Zheke’s brows unknotted and the primness faded away from her face. She said in a clear, gentle voice,

“It’s okay. I understand. If my cousin brought a girlfriend back home, I would immediately book a flight just to take a look at her.”

She had two red envelopes in her hand, of which one was heavy and the other comparably thin, respectively from Qi Fang and Lou Debang.

“Your cousin brought a girlfriend home…” Lou Cheng chuckled. “It sounds like a fantasy.”

It seemed impossible to imagine him dating a girl.

“I agree…” Yan Zheke didn’t stand up to defend her cousin Lin Qui. Instead, she nodded seriously.

Lou Cheng glanced at Yan Zheke’s pink purse and the red envelopes and asked, “Why not put it in and free your hand?”

“I love to hold it in my hand. Problem?” answered Yan Zheke in a light and quick manner as she waved the hand with her envelopes proudly.

“No problem at all! As long as you are happy.” A matter suddenly came to Lou Cheng’s mind. “Ke, when do we go to your grandparents’?”

“Hmm… Maybe we don’t go…” Yan Zheke tilted her head and looked at him solemnly.

“Why?” Lou Cheng was confused.”Why not?” asked Lou Cheng, confused.

Yan Zheke burst into a laugh, showing her deep dimples. “Because my grandparents miss me so much that they decided to stay in Xiushan for a while.”

She pursed her lips and looked up. “Some other relatives might come with them. When they are gone, I’ll take you home to visit my grandparents so you won’t feel awkward in front of so many of them.”

“Perfect!” Lou Cheng nodded to show his consent.

As they arrived at the entrance to the villas, Yan Zheke waved.

“Cheng, I’m going in.”

“Give my regard to your parents.” Lou Cheng responded with a smile.

Yan Zheke abruptly turned around after two steps, her eyes smiling shyly.

“Your parents are nice… Feels like family.”

She waved her envelopes again before passing the security agilely.

“We are family. Silly Ke…” Lou Cheng, with a silly grin, watched her walking away.

…

In Lou Cheng’s living room, Qi Fang was wiping the tea table, while Lou Cheng was wholly absorbed in the news. She commented,

“Zheke seems very delicate and cultured, with a great upbringing.”

“Yeah, not too noisy. Pretty good.” Lou Zhisheng sipped on his tea and nodded.

The sound of a key turning came and Lou Cheng stepped in.

“That was fast,” Qi Fang blurted.

“Not really. I walked her home and came back,” answered Lou Cheng, puzzled.

“Why can’t you be smarter and more considerate? Why not take her to shop or go for a walk together before dropping her home? Boys must make moves.” Qi Fang spent loads of her time watching TV dramas and felt very concerned about her son’s lack of romance. She wished he could have done better.

We did take a stroll by the lake… I’d love to go on a date with her and spend two or even three more hours together before dropping her back, but her mother has been waiting… Lou Cheng thought to himself and quickly changed the subject. “Ke thinks you two are really good.”

“Ahh… We could have received her better…” Qi Fang said humbly with a bright smile.

Lou Zhisheng raised his teacup again and took a sip with a secret smile.

Lou Cheng said, “Dad, Mom, my master asked me to learn more about other countries’ martial arts styles, so I think I’ll go to the States quite often and stay there for some time every time. Let me teach you how to make a video call…”

“Okay.” Qi Fang was in shock and very concerned. “What about Zheke? It’s not good to be apart all the time.”

Lou Cheng smiled genuinely, “Mom, don’t worry. Her dad got her into a program and she can study in the States.”

“That’s great!” Qi Fang sounded relieved. “You will come back for holiday, right?”

“Of course!” Lou Cheng smiled brightly as he took over his parents’ phones to begin the teaching session.

Lou Zhisheng and Qi Fang finally grasped how to make a video calls by 8:30. Lou Cheng went back to his room and turned on his computer as he had been doing in the past several months.

While waiting for the computer to turn on, he replied to Yan Zheke’s message on his phone and browsed new messages in a few groups.

In their family group, Ma Xi posted an emoji of drinking hot water.

“Sister-in-law is so pretty! Even more beautiful in person than on TV!”

Lou Yuanwei simply replied with a thumbs up.

Reading these messages from a few hours ago, Lou Cheng didn’t type any word but replied with a “passing by” sticker.

Once his computer was ready, he opened the browser and began to wander between several Taoist training forums and online shopping sites.

Since his Nine Words Formula rose to fame, related items became a hit online. Many sellers began to advertise ancient nine characters graphs, golden rock nine seals, broken secret discipline, and family heirloom Nine Words Sound illustrations to take advantage of the trend. Even the Shangqing Sect and the Daxing Temple couldn’t guarantee their disciples would master it by studying the visualization graphs.

“What? You bought my family heirloom but couldn’t master the secret style? Well, my friend, I don’t think you are talented enough. Let me introduce you to something simpler and more suitable for less gifted people like you. Still no? Take a look into the mirror. You better quit.”

Since amateur martial artists couldn’t tell the real from the fakes, many of them became very optimistic and confident about finding the right secret book, becoming the next Lou Cheng, and rising to the peak of life.

Lou Cheng was one of them, hoping to find something helpful by relying on his practice of the Nine Words Formula.

For him, the Inhuman stage was no longer so far away after his recent breakthrough, but nobody knew how long it would take for him to pass the final gap.

He had set a goal of four months, but he couldn’t be sure about it. He continued to train hard and wanted to discover some activators to help him achieve his goal in four months. The most promising primer would certainly be the rest of the Nine Words Formula!

It would help him grow, help his master recover, and help Ke overcome her natural deficiency. It had become the biggest target of his next term.

Lou Cheng had discovered several items that were hard to tell if they were real or fake. However, he didn’t waste his time to seek confirmation but threw all possibilities to Geezer Shi, who would in turn pass them on to the other experienced masters, like Divine Enchanter of Sin Flame.

“If you try to fool me, the military will pull your underpants down!” thought Lou Cheng.

None of them were real so far.

Of course, Lou Cheng kept some clues to himself. A few items actually had the same feeling and taste of what he had learned. He was willing to pay a few hundred to take a chance. However, these items were either too broken or wrong, so he hadn’t achieved any new formulas yet.

“Cheng, did I eat too much at lunch and dinner today?” Yan Zheke resumed her usual coolness after a hot shower and began to worry about it.

Lou Cheng chuckled and touched his chin with his hand. “Not at all compared to me.”

He glanced at the screen from the corner of his eye and was stunned.

It was a silk cloth with a Dou character in the middle of the screen, giving out a feeling of a heavenly battle.

“Hmm…” Lou Cheng straightened his body and opened the window to chat with the seller.

“Where did you get this?” asked Lou Cheng bluntly.

The seller named Never Miss A Treasure responded passionately, “Dear, it has been passed down in my family. Are you interested? I’m very short of money lately. Give me 999 and it’s all yours. It’s the same as Lou Cheng’s. Dear, the Fighting Formula. Dear!”

“You are not a good liar, you know? At least make the cloth older, please. You just bought it not long ago, right?” Lou Cheng burst into a laugh.

“Dear… I’m just trying to make a living… You don’t have to be so mean…” Never Miss A Treasure turned cold all of a sudden.

“Tell me. Where did you get it printed? Were you fooled by someone?” Lou Cheng kept his tone casual, but his face was very serious.